The Public Policy Institute of California today released a report 'Public Safety Realignment and Crime Rates in California.' (see PDF) The following can be attributed to Allen Hopper, director of criminal justice and drug policy for the ACLU of California:

"The report released today by the Public Policy Institute of California confirms that Realignment has not caused a public safety catastrophe in California. We now have independent data that confirms that California can successfully reduce our state’s reliance on incarceration.

The report finds there’s been a slight uptick in auto theft, which shows us that we still have room for improvement. The state and counties must continue to reaffirm their commitment to implementing cost-effective smart on crime approaches to control crime.

Such practices include expanding the use of risk assessments to determine who should remain in jail while awaiting their day in court and who can be safely supervised in the community or released on their own recognizance, thereby freeing up valuable jail bed space while minimizing risk to the community.

Overall, this report finds that after the first year of realignment, crime rates remain at historically low levels and are substantially below those of even a decade ago."